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It started when two canine scientists decide to become pen pals in an era of digital media...

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

People keep asking me: What is he? Place your bets... #RaisingRudy

Rudy on adoption day, and turning 1yr old

Rudy turned 1 year old this month. It was a day to reflect on how he's grown over the seven months we've shared with him, while we've been #RaisingRudy. (If you haven't heard of Rudy - catch up here)He's still quite a goose of a puppy on most days, but we can see more of the dog he is becoming and, put simply, we adore him. To think back to the pup we took from the regional shelter who was very nervous about traffic and reconcile it with the 42kg (92lb) canine we share our days with, who shares the trampoline with my daughter, enjoys quiet moring river walks with me, will lie down and relax at cafes, play with every dog and greet every person at the dog park... Well, it's something!

Do other people wonder if their dog should be a unicorn?!

Whenever we take Rudy out in public, he attracts comment."What IS HE?"My answers have varied from sensible (a mix of sight hound breeds, like an English lurcher), to ludicrous (Muppet crossed with a Bunyip). But given the frequency of this question and my own curiosity, I decided to celebrate Rudy's first birthday with a visit to our lovely local vet for a small blood sample (no problem at all, we'd prepared by practising voluntary leg holds at home with food reinforcement) and a Mixed Breed Identification DNA test.

We'll have the results within a couple of weeks, but while we wait, I thought it might be fun for all of us to place bets on what you think Rudy's got in him. I've tried to include photos here that show you all his body parts that might help with identification. And also, you know, my dog is cute, so there's that.I'll be back in a couple of weeks with the full low down on the science of DNA tests, what they can tell us about mixed breed dogs and Rudy's results. If you can't see the poll below the photos, just click here to participate.Look forward to seeing your guesses!Miap.s. You can catch Julie and I joining Caren Cooper and Brian Hare for #citscichat on Twitter later this week. Details are here.p.p.s. You can join me for an online lecture about 'Why is Animal Welfare Important to Dogs?' later this week too, CEUs available, hosted by E-Training for Dogs. Details are here.